Reinstated
by EmeraldCityTourist
Summary: Billie is finally back at the Manor, but things are far from normal. She can't get rid of the negative thoughts invading her mind and just when she thinks things might be okay, a problem arises, a secret is revealed, and an old acquaintance returns.
1. When I Get Home, You're So Dead

**Hey, faithful readers! We're back with the sequel to "Slipping into Oblivion." If you haven't read that, well, it might be a good idea unless you enjoy total confusion. But hey, to each his own. I apologize for the delay in posting after the first story, but fanfiction isn't letting me use it on my laptop, so I'm posting from the desktop that I despise. Anyway, enough of that- happy reading!**

Billie stepped out of the cab, wondering where the Halliwell sisters were. Phoebe had called a week before, informing her that she would pick her up when Billie was released from rehab. Since the sisters hadn't been allowed to see her during the last month in the clinic, Billie just assumed that Piper and Paige would be there too.

But when she was done packing- not that she had that much to begin with- she waited outside for an hour before calling a taxi to get a ride home. She had tried all three sisters' cell phones, but each went straight to voicemail. By the time she realized that she should have probably left a message, she was out of change for the payphone she was using.

Billie took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold into the manor. She had anticipated that someone would have been there with her, and she didn't realize how hard one step could be.

"Hello?" her first attempt at the five letter word came out as a whisper, and she cleared her throat and tried again.

"Hello?" Her voice echoed throughout the empty house.

Looking around, she realized that the manor was completely dark. Her heart leaped as the notion of a surprise party came to mind, but she pushed the thought out of her mind. Things like that had a way of _not _happening to her. Her thoughts were affirmed as she found every room downstairs empty. She glanced in each room upstairs as she headed for the attic. She figured that if nobody was up there, she could at least keep busy while waiting for them.

She walked to the Book of Shadows and flipped through to the back. Copying down a random potion, she attempted to quell the feeling of disappointment that was rising in her chest. Why hadn't anyone picked her up, or even answered their phones?

_There has to be a reason they didn't come. Maybe they don't really want me back._

Billie snapped herself out of her thoughts and focused on the potion at hand. Some of Dzyak's manipulation had left a mark on her, and her counselor had taught her to concentrate elsewhere when unsolvable negativity seeped into her train of thought.

As she was moving around making the potion, Billie thought she heard a noise coming from downstairs. Jogging down the staircase, she looked downward from the landing. When she didn't see or hear anything else, she called out for her friends.

"Hello? Paige? Piper, Phoebe? You guys home?"

No answer came, so Billie shrugged and went back up to the attic, playing it off as the house being ancient.

She was adding the last ingredient to the potion when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She tensed, recognizing that it was too heavy to be one of the sisters'. She spun around and came face to dace with an enormous demon.

His skin was a deep green and the numerous white designs on his head gave away his high rank in the underworld. He offered no greeting, no sarcastic remark before he backhanded her into Piper's old dollhouse. Pain shot up her spine as the antique toy shattered against her back.

Months without training made Billie rusty, but she grabbed a sharp piece of wood from the wreckage and threw it at the demon, amplifying its speed with her powers. It struck him in the left bicep, and the demon roared in pain as Billie scrambled to get up. Moving towards the corner of the room, she edged toward the door, hoping to escape and knowing that she couldn't take him on herself.

Unfortunately, the demon recovered more quickly than Billie had hoped, and advanced on her menacingly. She made the mistake of glancing at the doorway to gauge the distance, and her enemy realized what she was doing.

She dashed for the exit, but he cut her off. As she tried to move by him, the demon stuck out his arm and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up easily. Billie's hands shot upwards automatically, grasping at her attacker's and trying to regain a flow of oxygen while her legs kicked, trying to find a base to stand on.

Ignoring her vain struggle, he slammed her against the wall, causing a sickening crack to resonate through the room as Billie's head struck the wood. Her vision was clouded by that point and her throat burned, unaccustomed to the searing sensation she was now feeling. The demon was saying something, but Billie could only hear pieces of it, on the verge of unconsciousness.

"This…says…for…don't…good…"

He pushed up on her throat, apparently having finished his speech, and Billie could feel her body move up a few more inches against the wall. Loose splinters pierced her skin through her shirt, and she felt warm blood running down her skin. As the black spots in her eyes grew and overlapped against each other, Billie wondered why she was meant to finish rehab if she was just going to die her first day home.

Almost imperceptibly, the pressure on her throat stopped increasing, and the demon seemed to have frozen. Before Billie could register it, the grip was released and she fell to the floor. Her eyes were closed while she tried to stop coughing, but she could see a bright light through her eyelids, and knew that the demon was dead when she felt a burst of heat wash over her.

She felt a presence next to her, and suddenly someone was rubbing her back and holding her, trying to stop the coughing fit. After a few more painful seconds, Billie calmed down and was able to get her breathing back to normal. She realized that it was Phoebe who was with her, and struggled to turn around.

Phoebe felt that Billie was trying to move, and let her go so they could speak more easily. She also knew that Billie was still too independent to let herself be held for too long, the only two exceptions of that being the day the sisters found her unconscious in the streets of Los Angeles and the day she was admitted into rehab.

Billie looked as if she were trying to keep herself from saying something, so Phoebe spoke first, pushing down her curiosity.

"What are you doing here, Billie?"

Billie tensed immediately.

_I'm not supposed to be here._

"Well I thought- They said you were- It's _today,_" Billie wasn't stuttering, exactly, but Phoebe could tell immediately that she was nervous, confused and even a little scared.

"What's today, sweetie?" she asked.

"You. I mean, you were supposed to be there. To get me."

"To pick you up? Not until next week, I'm not," Phoebe was starting to get a little confused herself.

"No. Today was the day, Pheebs. It was early because they said I was doing better than they thought," Billie fidgeted when she said this, and Phoebe knew she was embarrassed for having to go into rehab in the first place.

"Why don't I call the clinic and see what the mix up was, alright? Who checked you out today?"

"Some woman named Maureen."

"Alright, come on downstairs. Are you hungry?"

1x1x1x

"Thank you for your help. No, it's alright, she's fine here. Okay goodbye."

Phoebe hung up the phone and turned back to Billie.

"Well first off, there's no Maureen working at the clinic, but your record confirmed that today was your check-out day."

Billie frowned. She specifically remembered the woman's name because after she saw the name tag, she got a song from the show _Rent_ stuck in her head. She waited as Phoebe called her sisters and tried to remember if she'd ever seen the woman before at the clinic. She couldn't.

1x1x1x

Piper walked in through the door in a way that Billie's mother would call "walking with a purpose." She moved quickly towards Billie and embraced her. Piper was always nice to Billie, but she rarely hugged her; Billie relaxed more fully when she found the hug to be sincere and not tense at all.

As Piper straightened up, bright lights appeared next to her and Paige appeared, looking slightly disheveled.

"What's going on?" she glanced around.

Her eyes found Billie, and she stared for a moment before quickly swooping in and hugging her. Billie hugged her back, slightly embarrassed, and stepped back. She wasn't sure what to expect at this point. She needn't have worried though- Paige turned to Phoebe and wanted to know exactly what was going on.

As Phoebe filled her sisters in, Billie edged out of the way and went to sit on the couch. She realized how tired she was the moment she sat down, and leaned back, closing her eyes. She hadn't slept the night before, anxious about how it would be when she arrived home. Apparently, her fears had been justified- just not in the ways she thought.

**Let me know what you think!**


	2. This is Your Life

**Hey everyone, sorry about the delay. My father passed away so I was loaded with this massive amount of make-up work for school, and to be honest, updating completely slipped my mind. But I took my last makeup test today so everything should get back to normal. Also, sorry if I'm not replying to your reviews; for some reason, I can't get on to fanfiction dot net through my laptop, but I'm really working on fixing that. (And don't think that you don't have to review now, you sneaks. ;D )**

2x2x2x

Paige glanced over at Billie while Piper was giving her take on the situation and smiled. Billie looked adorable when she slept, all the worries that weighed on her mind having melted away. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she was only a teenager, and Paige knew that the reason Billie looked so much older when she was awake was due to all the terrible things she had seen in her short time as a witch. Paige felt partly responsible for that, and made a mental note to herself not to let the blonde become jaded.

Billie stirred in her sleep and Paige moved over to the couch, draping a nearby blanket over her and moving her head onto a pillow lightly. Piper whispered her name and she turned back to her sisters.

"I was thinking…" Piper continued, "Phoebe, you said that Billie was attacked by a demon, right? Well, obviously he was there for a reason."

"Right, but 'Killing the Charmed Ones' is always a fun and exciting way to spend time when you don't have to work in your office in hell, so how do we know it wasn't just random? And by the way, how _do _demons spend their downtime, playing poker?" Paige asked.

Piper ignored Paige's second question and answered the first. "We don't know. But think for a second: Billie was sent home today, checked out by a woman who the company claims _doesn't _work for them, while we were told that she'd be released next week, so it's not likely that we'd be at home when she got here on the wrong day."

Phoebe was catching on to Piper's logic. "So if we thought that _nobody_ was home, and Billie thought _we_ were going to be home, it would be a perfect time for a demon attack, neither of us knowing where the other was."

"The question is," Piper finished, "Why would a demon want to attack Billie?"

2x2x2x

Billie woke up and stretched, keeping her eyes closed and hoping to fall back asleep. When she found herself completely awake, she opened her eyes and didn't recognize her surroundings. Sitting up quickly, she ascertained that she was in a bedroom she had never been in before- but were those _her _posters? And her chair, and her pillows. She frowned as she looked around, and when she saw the stairs heading upwards it finally hit her: she was in the Halliwells' basement.

She put on the slippers and bathrobe that were laid out on her chair and headed up the stairs. Coming out in the kitchen, she noticed the sun coming in through the windows. Glancing at the coffee maker, she noted that it read seven in the morning. She shuffled out into the dining room, where she found all three sisters eating breakfast.

"Since when do you guys actually sit down and eat?" she asked.

"Since Phoebe finished her column early for once." Paige replied. "What's up, sleepyhead?"

"I wanted to thank you guys for what you did."

Phoebe grinned. "You like it?"

"I love it, really," she replied sincerely.

"Good, because I spent like, three whole minutes orbing all your stuff in there. Three minutes of my life I will never get back, all from the goodness of my heart," Paige sighed, placing a hand on her chest and wiping an invisible tear from her eye. Billie smiled.

_Maybe they just want you here because they don't trust you enough to be on your own._

Billie touched her head, trying to keep the negative thoughts away, along with the headache that came with them.

"You okay, honey?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little headache," she responded, sitting down and pouring herself some coffee. The smell of the various food and drinks on the table wafted over to her and she gagged, feeling nauseous. She barely muttered an "oh crap" before rushing upstairs to the bathroom and being sick.

The three sisters followed, and when Billie stopped heaving, Piper went back downstairs to get her some ginger ale. Billie tried to stand up, but ended up having to lean against the wall for support; her legs were shaking from the lack of nutrients in her body.

She gratefully took the soda from Piper when she came back in and drank it slowly. Paige crouched next to her and put an arm under hers to help her get up. When she stood, black clouded her vision and she sat back down heavily.

"Keep your eyes closed, Billie," Paige instructed her.

Billie complied and was met with the familiar sensation that she associated with orbing. When the feeling ended, she opened her eyes and found herself on the couch downstairs. She lied down and smiled her thanks when Paige tossed her a blanket. Piper and Phoebe came downstairs and Phoebe tossed the remote control to Billie.

"You're sick, so you get the Halliwell Special," she declared.

"You guys, it's okay, I'm fine," Billie insisted.

"Oh no you don't," Piper interrupted, "You're going to stay there until you're 110 percent good again."

"Really, I spent weeks doing nothing in rehab, and all I want to do is go for a run or something. Anything."

"Nope. What kind of soup do you want?"

"I don-"

"Tomato it is, then," Piper announced, turning on her heel and heading for the kitchen.

Billie sighed, but was secretly happy that the sisters cared enough about her to do all this. She repositioned herself on the couch and turned on the television while Phoebe went into the kitchen to help Piper and Paige sat on the edge of the couch with Billie.

Click - _"What will happen when you"_ - click - _"watch Desperate Housewives at nine o' clock"-_ click_ - "after all you wouldn't want to" - _click_ - "live it up with beautiful women and" - _click_ - "Conan O'Brian! He'll" – _click – "_put some stuffing around the turkey…" _

"Damn it, Billie, pick a station already!" Paige complained.

"I can't help it if there's nothing on during the day," she retorted, but settled on a watching a rerun of _Friends._

A while later, Piper came back with the soup and to Billie's relief, she was able to keep it down. Phoebe declared a girl's night in and a while later, she and Piper went out to rent some movies for them.

Billie resumed watching television, but soon she zoned out, her mind wandering. She began to wonder how she got sick in the first place. Any "inmates" who were sick in the clinic were isolated for fear of giving the girls with eating disorders a reason not to eat. The more she thought about it, the more confused she was as to how she contracted a virus.

"I'll be right back," she informed Paige as she took the blanket off her lap.

"Do you want me to get you something, sweetie?" her friend asked.

"No, I'm fine. I'll only be a minute," Billie answered, getting up and walking to the stairs.

When she got to the bathroom, she grabbed a new toothbrush and a tube of paste. Sickness and soup did not leave the most desirable taste in one's mouth. Squeezing the tube over the brush, she rolled her eyes when all that came out was a tiny rush of air and a few scattered pieces of toothpaste.

She opened the doors to the cabinet under the sink and crouched down, feeling around for a new tube. Her hand touched a rectangular box and she grabbed it. Pulling it out, she realized that she had accidentally grabbed an extra pregnancy test. She was about to put it back when her breath caught in her throat.

_Cal._

**Hmm, cliffhanger. –laughs maniacally, coughs- **


	3. Sea of Doubts

**Unfortunately, I don't have a spiffy author's note to put here this week, other than thanks again for reading and reviewing; and to those of you who offered their condolences, I appreciate it more than you might think. So here's chapter tres!**

Billie fell backwards and sat down heavily as unwanted thoughts invaded her mind.

_What if it's not just sickness, what if it's _morning_ sickness?_

She held the offending box in shaking hands. _Should I take it? But I could just be sick; maybe I'm overreacting. It could be nothing. _

_Or you could be carrying the offspring of a rapist._

Because that's what it was, wasn't it?

Rape.

It was such an ugly word. How could four little letters possibly convey all of the pain she went through? You couldn't put a freaking label on _that._

She didn't think that she could take the test alone, and she debated asking Paige to come upstairs until she remembered that she hadn't told the sisters about what happened with Cal.

She sat there for a few more minutes until the door creaked open slowly. Snapping out of her thoughts, Billie stood up quickly and clutched the test behind her back.

"Billie, honey. I knocked twice, are you okay?" Paige asked as she pushed open the door a little further. "It's been like, ten minutes."

She stopped when she saw Billie; she expected the younger woman to be throwing up or something equally as bad, seeing as how long she had been in there for. Although Billie wasn't physically being sick, her heavy breathing and shaking didn't go unnoticed by the youngest Halliwell. However, it seemed that luck was with Billie, and Paige decided that the oddities came with her virus.

"Aw, sweetie, let's get you back downstairs," she said to Billie, who was still silent, trying to calm herself down and gather her thoughts. Paige approached her and put a comforting arm on Billie's shoulder, orbing them both out of the bathroom. At the last moment possible, Billie dropped the package she was holding and kicked it under the sink, unnoticed by Paige.

3x3x3x

"Alright guys, we've only got the best movies available for girl's night!" Phoebe declared as she and Piper came through the door.

"Ten bucks says she rented _Kill it Before it Dies _again," Paige whispered to Billie, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together to sign money.

"A-hah! You do not know me well enough, Paige!" Phoebe said, walking into the room over-dramatically. "I not _only _rented _Kill it Before it Dies, _but also _Kill it Before it Dies II: The Resurrection of the Living. _And there's _Case Closed, Skeletons in the Closet, _and_ Brainiac's Revenge."_

"Wasn't Braniac some comic book bad guy?" Paige asked.

"Like I'd know," Phoebe replied.

"So Billie, which one do you want to watch first?"

"It doesn't matter, you guys can choose," Billie said.

Phoebe grinned and popped in _Kill it Before it Dies, _while Piper came in with popcorn and grilled cheese for everyone. As the beginning credits rolled, Billie was lost in her own thoughts. She knew that the next term was starting up again, and she'd have to start classes right away if she wanted any chance to catch up. That meant she'd have to deal with Cal and with Parker, who she still owed money to. She figured she could at least discuss her money situation with the sisters, if not her other, more serious condition.

She watched the movie in silence and noticed that each of the three sisters kept stealing glances at her, so she pretended to fall asleep halfway through. When the movie ended, she grabbed the remote to turn off the television and started to speak, but Phoebe shushed her.

"No way, honey. There's an extra scene after the credits."

"I'm sure Phoebe is the only person in the world who's watched this movie enough times to know that," Paige grumbled under her breath. Billie tried to smile, but she wasn't sure if the signal from her brain was received by the muscles in her face.

When the last, _last_ scene was over, Phoebe finally allowed the TV to be turned off and happily munched away on the remaining kernels of popcorn while Paige and Piper rolled their eyes at each other. Billie was trying to gather enough strength to talk to the sisters about Parker and keep herself from chickening out.

"Um, guys," Billie trailed off, sill unsure if she wanted to go through with the discussion.

The Halliwells looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish.

"I'm going back to school in about a week and, um, I'll have to see… Parker."

Three identical blank expressions were looking in her direction.

"Parker was my, uh… dealer," she said quietly, her face turning red. She looked at her hands, playing with her rings and unable to look any of the sisters in the eyes.

"I'm just- It's just that- I still owe him money," she finished.

"Oh, honey, that's the last thing you should have to think about," Paige said hugging her. "We'll figure it out, don't worry." Billie struggled out of Paige's grasp in spite of herself, hoping she didn't hurt her friend's feelings.

"Yeah but… how? I mean if I'm right, we can't use magic to make him forget or anything, and I sure as hel- _heck_ don't have the money to pay him," she switched her language after noticing Piper's disapproving look.

"You don't think about that, Billie. We'll take care of it, don't worry," Piper said. Billie believed her, but the look in Piper's eyes made her slightly apprehensive about it. She decided to trust her, though. Piper always seemed to know what she was doing.

3x3x3x

It was one in the morning, and Phoebe couldn't sleep. Something was wrong in the house, but she had no idea what it was or which person the feeling she had should be associated with. She tossed and turned for a good forty five minutes before giving up and putting on her slippers to leave her room. Plodding to the bathroom, she was about to get a drink of water when she realized that warm milk would probably be a better choice.

As she turned to leave the room, she spotted something under the sink. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was a packet of paper. Opening it up, she saw that they were instructions for a pregnancy test. She snorted at the multiple page pamphlet.

_It's not like these things require a rocket scientist to figure it out,_ she thought, looking at all the warnings that were obviously there just so that the company couldn't be sued for any obscure reasons.

She moved to put the paper back in the box it came from, but when she looked through the cabinet, she couldn't find one. Frowning, she wondered if Piper or Paige thought they were pregnant, but she was sure they'd tell her or at least be more careful about keeping their secret if they felt they needed to. To further this argument, the feeling she could sense in the house was one of fear, not happiness or excitement, which was what her sisters would be feeling if they were pregnant. She dismissed it as an old packet and took it to throw away downstairs.

Phoebe frowned when she saw a light on and hoped that Paige's nightmares hadn't started up again; they had been prominent since she had gone back in the past and relived the day of her parents' deaths. She was surprised to find Billie in the kitchen, apparently lost in thought, with her back to Phoebe. She hadn't changed into pajamas, so Phoebe guessed that she never went to bed.

"Hey," Phoebe prompted softly, trying not to scare the young girl.

When Billie didn't answer, Phoebe walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Billie jumped a mile in her seat and whipped around to face Phoebe, her hand jerking something off of the table and hiding it underneath. Phoebe frowned in confusion, but let it slide for the moment.

"Honey, are you alright?"

Billie took a few deep breaths, visibly trying to calm down. "Yeah, I'm fine. You just scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry about that. I couldn't sleep. You either?" she asked.

"No, I guess not," Billie replied.

"You know you don't have to be worried about Parker, we told you we'd take care of it."

"I'm not scared of Parker," the younger witch protested quickly. She seemed to be thinking for a moment and then shook her head. "Maybe I am," she admitted.

"He won't bother you again, sweetie. I promise."

"Yeah… I know."

Phoebe moved to the refrigerator and got out some milk to heat up. While she was at the stove, something clicked. It was so simple and obvious. _Billie_ had the pregnancy test under the table.

_Oh my god._

She almost dropped the carton she was holding but managed to regain her grip on it before it hit the ground. Pouring the milk into the pan, Phoebe worked to keep her face passive. She casually went back to the table and sat down across from the blonde. They sat in silence as Billie sipped on her water and fidgeted, obviously wanting to get up, but refraining from doing so in case Phoebe saw what she was holding. The milk was ready, but Phoebe ignored it, looking at Billie and hoping she wouldn't have to ask her about it. Unfortunately, Billie wasn't giving up any information voluntarily, so Phoebe took a leap of faith.

"Have you taken it yet, sweetie?"

Billie's eyes shot up to meet hers and then quickly went back to watch her drink as she splashed it around in the glass, obviously hoping to give an air of normalcy.

"Taken what?" she asked.

"The test, Billie, I know you have it."

Billie didn't respond, but Phoebe saw her jaw clench, so she continued.

"Do you want me to be with you while you wait, or do you already know what it says?"

Silence greeted her again, so she stood up and poured herself the now very warm milk. She sat next to Billie this time, and gently pulled the test from her hands. It was unused. Phoebe let out a breath she didn't know she was holding; if Billie wasn't speaking and she had already taken the test, then the answer would have been evident, but now Phoebe knew her friend's silence was because she was scared to take the test at all.

"Okay, okay. Don't worry, honey, I'm sure it's nothing. You can just take it and I'm sure you're fine."

"This is the second one," Billie whispered so quietly that Phoebe didn't hear.

"What?"

"This is the second test," her voice broke and tears started streaming down her face. "I know what the first said. I took it after you guys went to bed."

"Are you…"

Billie just nodded, hiccupping in a vain attempt to calm down. Phoebe felt tears in her own eyes as she thought of what the young girl must have been going through. She'd had a few pregnancy scares as a teen, but she had always dispelled them with a few tests.

"Do you know who the father is, honey?" she desperately wanted to hug Billie, but she wasn't sure how she would react to it.

"There's only one person it could be," she answered bitterly.

**One down, two to go. Things aren't looking good for Billie right about now, and we still haven't seen the reactions of Paige and Piper. What does this mean for their friendships and what does it mean for Billie's future as a person and a witch? Is this real, or is it some sort of whacked-out nightmare? Only time will tell. (Heavy bribes will tell, too. Maybe some reviews. Or cookies. I'm not picky, really.) **


	4. They'll Soon Discover

**Hey guys, this chapter's on time! Yay!**

**---- Special thanks to Sabrina S. from Germany, because I couldn't reply to your review. Sure, I had to toss it in the ol' translator that I found on Google, but it was a really sweet review and I appreciate it. I also think that it's way cooler that it was in another language. Yeah, I'm a dork like that. :) Read on!  
**

4x4x4x

Billie couldn't stop the tears from falling. How could this happen to her? She felt like she was going to be sick, but she'd already vomited enough times that day and she knew that she wouldn't again. She could practically feel the disgust radiating off of Phoebe, and couldn't imagine how sickened the older witch would be by her if she knew the whole story. She glanced around the kitchen, her eyes darting to the basement door and she wondered what Phoebe would do if she just locked herself in.

_She'd probably just have Paige orb them down there._

"Have you told him?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't plan on it," Billie answered truthfully.

"He has a right to know, honey," she chided softly, trying to keep a level head about the situation.

"He has no right to anything!" Billie yelled, standing up rapidly and knocking her chair over with a crash. She backed away from Phoebe, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic. She heard someone rushing down the stairs and saw Piper and Paige come down as she entered the hallway.

"Wherza demon?" Paige asked, half asleep and not looking very threatening in her Cookie Monster pajamas and her hair in braids.

"There's no demon, honey," Phoebe said quietly before turning her attention back to Billie.

"Billie, sweetie, it's alright. You're going to be okay."

When Paige noticed Billie looking for an escape, she woke up completely and moved to block the front door slowly so what she was doing wouldn't be obvious. The last thing they needed was for her to run away again.

"What's going on, Bill?" she asked carefully.

Billie just shook her head, her hand over her mouth as if willing herself not to say another word. Phoebe took a cautious step towards the blonde and was opened her mouth to try and calm her again when Billie shook her head and ran past a baffled Piper into the kitchen. The sisters heard the door close and footsteps running down the stairs before Piper and Paige could try and figure out what was going on.

"I think you might want to sit down," Phoebe suggested.

4x4x4x

Billie was on her bed, face down and unsuccessfully trying to keep herself from crying. She tried to ignore the feelings of hopelessness that were washing over her like waves, but every time she calmed down, she'd think of another way this was ruining her life and she couldn't stop the tears from falling. Marriage. Friendships. School, parties, witchcraft. All of it was going to be put on hold or just plain screwed up because of _him._ Hearing soft footsteps on the stairs, she looked up to tell whoever it was to go away, but before she got the words out she started crying again.

Soon she felt a dip in the mattress and a hand on her back accompanied by Paige's voice whispering sweet nonsense in her ears. When she worked up enough strength to hold back her tears, she sat up and wiped her eyes. Paige looked at her expectantly, but didn't push any questions in her face. Yet.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," Billie apologized.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. I've got nothing to do tomorrow anyway."

"I didn't mean to yell."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to, but what made you?" she said.

"You're going to hate me. Everybody's going to hate me."

"I could never hate you, honey, I promise. Just tell me why you yelled."

"I'm sure Phoebe told you everything, so why do I need to repeat it?"

"Well she told me _what_ you yelled, and what she had said before you did, but I still don't know _why _you did."

"Because there's no way in hell I'm going to tell the fa- _him!_" She couldn't bring herself to call Cal the father. No, he wasn't the father of this child and as of that moment, it didn't have one.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't face him. I never want to see him again."

"Honey, whatever he did can't be so bad that the fact that he's a father should be withheld from him. It's okay if he ignored you after… Well I mean it's not okay because guys should never do that, and on that note girls shouldn't do it to guys either. It just shouldn't be done at all because it causes a lot of negative feelings and karma too, if you believe in that stuff. Which I don't personally, but-"

"You're rambling," Billie said, sniffling.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, he should know. So we're going to tell him. I'll go with you to his house or his dorm or whatever and when we break the news, I'll be right there with you whether or not he takes responsibility. And I'll give him a piece of my mind- and quite possibly a piece of my foot up his… well, I'll tell him what I think of him if he doesn't take responsibility."

"No, Paige. I can't."

"Billie, I know you're scared, but this is something you have to do. It's the right thing to do," Paige insisted as she placed her hand on Billie's.

Billie stood up off of the bed jerked her hand away from Paige, her eyes flashing. She couldn't deal with this, any of this. Paige didn't know what was going on, nobody knew; nobody understood. She was all alone, and there was no way out of this. It was her stupidity that got her into this mess, and nothing was going to make things right again.

"The _right _thing to do? He didn't do anything _right, _so why the hell should I give him the courtesy of even letting him see me?"

"Oh god, now I have to use a cliché. 'Two wrongs don't make a right,' Billie."

Billie couldn't control herself any more. She started shaking uncontrollably and nervous laughter escaped her mouth, sounding foreign to her. The situation was far from funny. She leaned up against the wall and slid down to the floor, clutching her knees against her chest. Thoughts raced through her mind, and she wasn't sure which ideas were being said aloud and which stayed in her head.

"Two wrongs. Two wrongs. Too wrong."

Paige started to look scared, and Billie didn't blame her. A part of herself seemed like it was detached from her body and she knew that she was acting far from sane. Paige approached her slowly and bent down to kneel across from her.

"Sweetie, look at me. Look at me," she repeated the line until Billie looked up. "I know you're scared and I know you might be embarrassed, but that doesn't matter because I'm here for you, okay?"

"There's nobody here for me. He won't be here for me, and I won't let him."

"Billie, you have to give him a chance."

"He didn't give me a chance," she replied quietly, now gazing past Paige's shoulder and into space, speaking to herself more than to Paige. She was now rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, trying to shake all feeling from her body.

Paige frowned, not understanding. "Didn't give you a chance when?"

"Well, he did, I guess. He only gave me one chance. He gave me a chance to scream," she laughed again, unable to control the sounds coming from her mouth. "But no other chances, nothing. No chance to run, no chance to stop him."

Paige began to understand what Billie was talking about, and her eyes grew wide in disbelief. There was no way that Billie was… no, she couldn't have been.

"Billie, you need to tell me. Did he," she took a deep breath and started again. "Did you tell him no?"

"He didn't stop. He wouldn't stop. I kept saying no. I did, I swear I did. I promise, Paige! But he kept going," Billie said, an odd look on her face.

Paige couldn't take it. She stood up and walked up the stairs quickly, her eyes filling with tears. Billie knew she would leave. She knew that she was dirty and disgusting and that nobody would want to be near her ever again. But that didn't matter now. Nothing mattered anymore.

4x4x4x

Paige was about to go up to her room when she was stopped by her sisters. She tried to move past them, wanting more than anything to be left alone, but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"Woah there, Missy Paige, hold it. Did you help her?" Piper asked.

"Help her? _Help her!? _This is all my fault! Oh my god, this is all my fault," Paige was crying steadily now, unable to cope with what was happening. "How could I let this happen to her? I'm supposed to _protect _her!"

Phoebe put an arm around Paige to guide her to the couch. "Paige, what's going on? Calm down, honey."

"Calm down? I should have my wings clipped for this! I should have my wings clipped and my powers bound and my- my… my license revoked!"

"Your license?" Piper asked.

"She was- he- he forced her and I should have been there to stop it!" At this, Paige shrugged Phoebe off and orbed out of the room while her two older sisters sat in shock and fear.

**I know this chapter was a lot of dialogue, but a. I like dialogue and b. This was a pretty big chapter character-wise, so we needed a lot of communication, especially between Paige/Billie and Phoebe/Billie. So let me know: did I handle this right? Was there something I could have done to make it better? Did it fulfill every hope and dream you've ever had and you just want to hunt me down and hug me for making you see the light about some event in your life that you happened to relate to this? I thrive on feedback, you know that. So hit that little blue button and go crazy:D **


	5. Light Sleeper

**Okay, so I'm going to take this second to say that I DID update last week, and I know this because the document was on here when I logged in. But for some reason, it must not have registered on the site. Which means that if the site wasn't working properly, you might not have received my review replied for the last chapter. But from now on, I'll double and triple check to make sure that when I update, it gets on here.**

It took Phoebe a full minute to decipher what her younger sister had said, another three minutes to process it, and two more to react. She felt like the world was moving in slow motion, and the entire situation was incredibly surreal. Piper took her hand and motioned for Phoebe to go down to Billie while she sought out Paige.

Nothing in Phoebe's life had prepared her for something like this, and as much as she wanted to hold Billie and tell her that everything was going to be okay, she knew that she couldn't. Then again, another part of her brain told her to run back to New York so she'd never have to see the pain in Billie's eyes again. She mentally berated herself for even thinking of abandoning the young witch at a time like this- or at any time.

_Okay, Phoebe. Nothing you're feeling is even _close _to what Billie must be feeling. Just keep that in mind, _she instructed herself as she slowly made her way downstairs, unsure of what awaited her.

5x5x5

There were countless places that Paige could have orbed off to, so Piper was extremely relieved when she found her sister sitting on her bed in the dark. She walked over and sat on the bed, waiting for the younger woman to speak.

"This is all my fault," she whispered, just as Piper knew she would.

"Oh honey, there's nothing you could have done to prevent this. The person who did this to her wasn't a demon, he wasn't in the Book of Shadows- we couldn't have known," Piper said.

"That's the whole point; I should have known, Piper! Not only is she my charge, but she's my friend! Leo can probably sense us when we jump during a scary movie, and I had no idea that Billie was being _raped-_" as soon as the last word left her mouth, Paige's hand shot upwards in shock, as if it wasn't true until she'd said it aloud. "I should have felt something," she continued.

"I should have been there to stop it, and if I wasn't, how could I not have known something was wrong after that? It took us weeks to find out that she was addicted to _drugs_, and then I just accepted the excuse of "pressure" for the reason she started using them! I was too selfish and wrapped up in myself to notice something so horrible had happened to her!" Paige finished her speech of self-hate and collapsed against her older sister, giving in to the tears that she'd been trying to hold back.

"Shh, it's okay honey. It's not your fault, I'm here," Piper whispered as she held Paige, feeling pretty helpless herself.

"It's not okay, it'll never be okay," Paige mumbled into Piper's arm from where she was leaning.

Piper realized her slip and amended her words. "Don't blame yourself, sweetie."

Paige said something else but Piper didn't hear her, so she resumed rocking Paige back and forth in a vain effort to comfort her.

When the two women made their way downstairs later on, they found Phoebe asleep on the couch in a half-reclining position. When Piper gently shook her, Phoebe awoke with a start and told them that Billie had been sleeping- or pretending to be- when she got downstairs, so she stayed on the couch in case she came up. All three women decided that it would be best for them to get some sleep and discuss the situation fully in the morning. Phoebe volunteered to stay on the couch so that Billie wouldn't try to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. She settled back down as her sisters made their way back upstairs, unaware of how much they were going to miss by being only two floors above Billie.

5x5x5x

Billie hadn't been asleep when Phoebe had come downstairs, but after the older woman had gone back upstairs, she'd fallen into the world of dreams- or rather, nightmares. Admitting the truth out loud had shattered the fragile wall of denial that she'd built up after everything had happened, and Billie had no idea how to deal with it on her own. When Phoebe had come into her room, she'd tried to will her friend to sit down and stay with her, but it didn't work and Phoebe left quietly.

Billie slept fitfully, unable to keep her eyes open but powerless in front of the images that assaulted her when she closed them. She even went so far as to smother her head with her pillow, something she'd only seen happen in overdramatic made-for-TV movies. After she'd had a particularly brutal nightmare, she bolted up from her bed in a cold sweat. She looked around erratically, trying to figure out where she was when she realized that she'd never left the manor. Just as her heart started to slow down, a figure loomed over her, knife in hand.

"Hey there, babe."

5x5x5x

Phoebe woke up slowly, savoring the feeling of the early morning sun on her face. Of course, when she looked at the clock, she realized that eleven o'clock could hardly be considered "early morning." Jumping off of the couch, she walked quickly upstairs and into the bathroom to take a shower. Still cursing herself when she stepped out ready for the day, she decided to check on Piper and Paige before she went back downstairs.

Finding Piper's bedroom empty, she made her way to Paige's door and knocked softly. When no answer came from the room, she slowly opened the door and smiled when she found Paige asleep, clutching Piper's arm unconsciously. Piper was holding onto her youngest sister lightly while watching her, looking concerned.

"Hey," Phoebe whispered as she walked further into the room.

"Hey yourself, sleepy head," Piper replied, turning to the middle sister and smiling.

"At least I'm out of bed."

"And I would have been out a long time ago, but there were circumstances beyond my control."

"Which were what, exactly?"

The smile on Piper's face faded. "Paige wasn't doing so well after we went to bed." She didn't have to explain any more than that.

"Poor thing, do you think we should wake her up?" Phoebe asked, moving over to sit on the bed and pushing some of Paige's hair away form her face.

"No, let her sleep. It's the only time right now when she isn't beating herself up."

Paige smiled in her sleep and sighed contentedly, hugging Piper's arm as if it were a teddy bear. This caused Phoebe to grin, and she offered to bring breakfast up to them.

'That'd be great. Just cereal though. The house is wrecked enough with demon attacks, we don't need you trying to cook," she winked.

Phoebe took the dignified route and stuck out her tongue, leaving the room. Walking into the kitchen, she yawned and decided to check on Billie before making breakfast. She was careful to step slowly, knowing the basement stairs creaked. A cold feeling washed over her, but she dismissed it as latent memories of the Woogyman, which had stayed with her over the years. She soon learned that the chill was something not to be ignored as the full room came into view. Billie was gone.

5x5x5x

Billie was on the floor looking up at Cal, the last few minutes of her life replaying over and over in her head as he stood before her, completely calm.

_The only person in the world who ever called her "babe" was Cal. This wasn't possible. How the hell did he get in her room? This had to be another nightmare. _

_That theory was immediately discarded when the knife slid through the skin on her right arm, causing her to fall back on the bed as her left hand went to clutch at the wound. She kicked herself away from Cal and took a deep breath, ready to scream when Cal put a strong hand over her mouth, pushing her head into the mattress._

"_Uh, uh, uh. Not yet."_

_He kissed her lips and she felt an unfamiliar sensation on her skin; it seemed to her that it was like what TV static would feel like. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but she could do without it. Within seconds, she was in an entirely different room._

This room had a bed that looked significantly less comfortable than her own- though must have been more comfortable than the floor she was now on- and was bare of any blankets. The floor of the room was concrete, as were the walls and, she assumed, the ceiling. There were no doors or windows, and Billie wondered for a split second how they had gotten there when it hit her: they had shimmered.

Which meant that Cal was a demon.

"Ho-how did you do that?" she asked carefully, afraid that she was right.

"Well, babe, I've got some… abilities that other people don't have."

_Wait, is that him glossing it over? He doesn't know that I'm a witch?_

"I do now," he replied grinning.

Billie's eyes widened and she attempted to rid her mind of any unwanted thoughts, which of course made all the things she didn't want him to know float to the top of her mind.

"So, you're a witch, huh Bill? Why didn't you try to use your powers on me at the party?"

Billie backed up against the wall, trying to put as much distance between her and Cal as possible. She had been asking herself the same question since that night, and she couldn't come up with an answer other than the fact that Leo had always said that her powers were tied to her emotions. Maybe she had been too scared.

_Or too weak._

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Do you want the long answer or the short answer?"

"The long one," she replied, hoping that the more he spoke, the less time he'd have to do… other things.

Cal laughed, though she hadn't said anything funny. "Hey, we've got all the time in the world here. The long answer won't put anything off for more than a few minutes. You're lucky I'm in a good mood."

Billie shuddered at both the implications of his statement and the fact that he'd read her mind again.

"Now," he said, "I guess you want to hear the long answer anyway?"

**Cue tense instrumental music. Cue... reviews? XD**


	6. Tell Me Something Good

**Finally! I've been trying at least twice a day every day since last Wednesday to post this, and each time I get an error message from the Powers that Be. Major suckage, but you've got your chapter now!**

"Billie's _what?!" _Piper hissed, her fury and fear both stifled by the fact that Paige was still asleep next to her.

"She's gone, Piper. I don't know where she went; there was no note, no clues, nothing."

"Oh, she is in _so_ much trouble when we find her!"

"Piper, do you really think that we should lay into her right now? I mean, what would you do in a situation like this?"

"Whas goin' on?" Paige murmured as she woke up groggily.

Piper and Phoebe shared a look, Piper's clearly saying, 'Don't say anything." Phoebe ignored her, figuring that Piper's wrath at this point wouldn't come close to Paige's if she found out that they held their current information from her for longer than necessary.

"Um, Paigey honey, don't freak out, okay?"

This caused Paige to wake up immediately and she shot her sister a steely glare.

"Freak out about _what, _exactly?"

"Billie is somewhat… gone."

"_Gone?!"_

"But it's okay!" Phoebe interjected, trying to placate her sister. "Because we'll just scry for her, orb to her and bring her back."

"What if she did another spell to stop that? She's done it before."

"Well, she's not in the best of thinking situations right now; it's a good chance that she hasn't cast any spells yet."

"She is in so deep when we find her," Paige muttered. "Let's go," she sighed and got up to make her way to the attic.

"Okay," Paige said to Phoebe as the older sister walked into the attic a few hours later, trying to get her attention.

When the crystal didn't move on its own, she looked up.

"It's déjà vu all over again," she said, walking away from the table and over to the Book of Shadows where Phoebe was now standing.

She flipped the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"To call a lost witch," she whispered, hoping her new idea would work.

Phoebe smiled for reasons unknown to Paige.

"You know that's how we found you?" she asked.

"Yeah, well let's hope that it'll work in our favor again," Paige said, gathering the ingredients for the spell.

6x6x6x

By this time, Billie had backed herself into a corner and Cal had settled himself next to her on the ground.

"So the day after our party, some guy came up to me and offered me a job as his assistant. I've got to prove myself, because there are about twelve other guys looking for the job, but all we have to do is kill an innocent. We get a month- that started yesterday- to pick someone, tail them and then kill them, but if I do the same thing as any other guy, how am I supposed to stand out enough to get the job? So I hired another guy to kill you in an... interesting fashion. But he sucked and got himself killed by one of your friends, so I decided to do the job by myself. Come here," he finished, standing up and pulling Billie up with him. They moved to the middle of the room and Cal gripped her tighter when he felt how badly Billie was shaking.

Gone was the man she'd met at a party months ago, and gone was even the man who had been congenially discussing his rise to power as a demon. Cal's dark eyes grew even darker, as did his expression.

"You told your stupid friends about what we did, and you blamed me," he said, letting go of her arm and clenching his hands. His eyes were almost completely black by this point. "Now they think that I'm the bad guy, when you are. You're the slut that led me on, you're the whore that started with me and wouldn't let me finish. And then you took the pills that I spent good money on and used them for yourself. You're the one to blame for everything, but you like to spin it so that I'm the wrong one, when your selfishness is the reason for everything."

Billie tried to shrink back into the corner as Cal moved closer to her, but she only succeeded in tripping over herself and falling to the ground. Cal grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her up, slamming her against the wall.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me, and your slow death will be exactly what I need to get that position."

His hand crept up to her throat, but instead of choking her like Billie was preparing herself for, he threw her onto the bed. Her body missed by a few inches and her back hit the corner of the mattress where it met the wooden frame, giving her severe whiplash as her back cracked from the impact and her head was thrown backwards. She crumpled to the floor and tried to get up- a mistake.

Cal jerked her up by the arm and threw her back onto the bed. Images from the party flashed through her mind, but it seemed that Cal was too angry to work himself up in that way. Not that the alternative was much better, Billie noticed as he pulled out an athame.

The seriousness of the situation hit her when she realized the place on her body where she would most likely be stabbed: the stomach. She no longer just had her own life to think about, not with the baby growing inside of her. As Cal bore down on her, she turned onto her left side and into the fetal position. She let out a scream of pain when the knife deeply pierced her arm, which had already been cut when Cal shimmered into her bedroom. He grunted as he pulled the athame out of her arm, viciously grabbing the wound and wrenching her onto her back again.

"No, no, no, no, no, please don't, Cal. I'll do anything, just please don't hurt me there."

Cal tilted his head, a smile playing on his face.

"God, Billie, you _are_ a whore," Cal said, shaking his head. "Are you worried that I'll kill the one thing in your life that doesn't yet see you as the complete failure that you are?"

Billie froze in shock, wondering whether he read her mind or of he was in the house when she confronted the Halliwells. It didn't matter at that point, anyway.

"I'll do anything," she repeated softly.

"I just might have to take you up on that offer later. As for now…" he said, "There are plenty of other things to do."

After ten long minutes and two times as many blows to the head, Billie was slipping in and out of consciousness. When he realized that she was no longer registering pain, Cal kissed her and shimmered out of the room, leaving her alone.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if she would bleed to death before Cal came back. In a sick way, she almost hoped she would, just to spite him. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, and it hurt to think. The last thought that entered her mind was that the Halliwell sisters probably hated her.

She didn't dream for hours and each time she woke up, she tried to stay conscious in case Cal came back into the room. When she finally let herself sleep, she found herself in a spacious green park, sitting on a large white swing. She wondered if she was dead, and figured that she wouldn't mind spending eternity where she was.

_She didn't know how long she sat there before a woman came up and sat next to her. She looked vaguely familiar, but Billie couldn't place her. She was too tired to speak, so she sat in silence, rocking the swing occasionally with her foot._

"_You don't know who I am, do you?" the woman asked, turning her bright blue eyes to Billie._

_Billie shook her head and shrugged, keeping her gaze on the ground. She'd just noticed that her clothes were clean and in one piece, the opposite state that they'd been in when she was awake. She wondered how that worked, but then subconsciously remembered that she was in a dream and she dismissed it. _

"_Billie," the woman said, trying to get her attention. When she didn't answer the woman rolled her eyes out of Billie's sight and snapped her fingers in front of her face. Billie looked up, annoyed._

"_What?"_

"_Look, it would be a lie to say I've been through what you have, so I can't say I know exactly what you're thinking or feeling, but I can guess. First of all, let's get some facts straight- Paige, Piper and Phoebe do_ not _hate you, and-"_

"_Of course they hate me, you didn't see the look on Paige's face when she found out what I let happen, or the look on Phoebe's when I told her that I was pregnant."_

"_Are you?" the woman asked pointedly._

"_So says the test, and so says all the evidence."_

"_Evidence can be wrong, Billie."_

_Billie frowned and looked in the woman's eyes, finally placing her. It was Prue Halliwell- she'd seen her in pictures all over the manor. _

"_It doesn't matter anyway. The sisters think I'm disgusting and they're never going to find me. It's not like I can get out, and even if I could, I don't have anywhere to go."_

"_Billie, you can't give up, alright? I'll try to help my sisters find you, and we'll get through this. Just hang on, okay? I can help you with some of your injuries, but I can't do much in this state._

"_Just… Hang on."  
_

**Bahahaha, and you thought I was going all cliché on you guys with the pregnancy. **


	7. The Great Escape

**Violence, guys. And sexual innuendo; but seriously, I'm just doing this so I won't get bitched out. It's not as bad as half the crap I've already put Billie through, so read on!**

Cal returned to the room some time later with some food, and Billie tried not to look too scared, sitting up on the bed and crossing her arms.

"Now don't start that with me, babe," he said, "You might hurt my feelings, and I'm the one with the food."

"I'm not hungry," Billie replied, trying not to shake in trepidation as he approached her. When her stomach growled at the smell of the food, she broke the eye contact that she'd managed to maintain since he entered. Cal smiled and sat down next to her; Billie tensed at the closeness and regretted it when her entire body ached in pain.

"You're pretty tough, you know that?" he asked, "And you look like hell, but you're still really cute." He put a hand on her leg and Billie jerked it away instinctively.

He ignored it and held up the plate he had put down before. It looked extremely good, but Billie knew that looks could be deceiving and didn't touch it.

"I told you, I'm not hungry."

"Don't lie to me," Cal smiled, but Billie knew he was deadly serious. "Come on now, eat the food." He took her hand in what might have looked like an encouraging gesture, but his grip was painfully tight, and Billie knew he could break her bones in an instant if he wanted to. She picked up the fork and took a small bite of the food, knowing that there could be anything from arsenic to a potion in it.

"That's my girl," Cal said.

It turned out that there was nothing threatening in the food, but Cal had after dinner plans.

"So Billie, what do you say we have some fun?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

Cal touched her leg again and kissed her. Pulling back, he said, "I think you know what I mean," as his hand moved upwards. Billie struggled to get away and fell off of the bed. Pain shot up her spine when she hit the floor and black clouded her vision before she pushed herself backwards. Cal stood up, the smile never leaving his face.

"Hey, we can do it on the floor if you want."

"N-no. Leave me alone," Billie whispered, continuing to move backwards without getting up. She backed herself into a corner- a continuing theme with her considering that the corners of the room were the furthest from everything, specifically Cal.

"Actually, I seem to remember you promising me that you'd do anything if I didn't hurt your precious unborn child."

"I- I- I can't. Please don't."

"I'm getting the feeling that if I let this go, you'll keep going back on your promises to me, and I think that would be a _very _bad idea, because then you'll think you're invincible or something." Cal laughed, "Which you're clearly not."

By this time, Cal was standing over her while she was shrinking back into the corner. Billie suddenly got a rush of adrenaline and stood up- however unsteadily. She glared at Cal and he stumbled backwards slightly.

"Wait a minute. Did you just try to use your _powers _on me?"

For some reason, lighthearted Cal was much more terrifying than angry Cal, but it didn't matter anyway because Billie had just made him angry, and that was scary enough. He backhanded her across the face and she crumpled to the floor, dazed.

"Now, Billie, I'm going to give you an option here, but don't think you'll be getting more of these any time soon. You and I can either do it, or I can kill the little brat that's growing inside of you right now. If you choose the former- and I _strongly _suggest you do- I'll go easy on you, scout's honor."

For the first time since their encounter, Billie was truly grateful for her meeting with Prue. However, she concentrated on the other thoughts in her head and tried to block the encounter from Cal.

"I c-can't," she finally gasped, flinching from the blow that she was sure would come. When she didn't feel any contact, she looked up, confused. Cal was looking down at her with a mixture of disgust and amusement, though Billie had never seen those two emotions displayed at the same time before.

"Wow, I had no idea how easily you'd put yourself before others. Some witch you are." Even though Billie knew that she wasn't really doing what Cal was assuming, the words still stung her and she started to believe them. What kind of witch was she, anyway? What kind of witch got addicted to drugs and killed people?

"You killed someone?" Cal asked.

As much as she tried to fight it, Billie couldn't keep the images from a few months ago from invading her mind. Cal looked impressed, and Billie was disgusted by herself.

"I'd never kill someone. You're the demon here, not me. You deserve to be here in hell, and I hope you burn," she spat out, forgetting where she was for a moment. Unfortunately, Cal was quick to remind her. He pulled her to her feet and pushed her back down again so that she was kneeling in front of him. As he undid his belt, Billie finally understood what he was doing.

She gathered all her strength and punched him in the groin, rushing to the other side of the room. She looked around the room for any kind of cover, and knew she would only find the bed. Moving over to it, she grabbed one of the bars on the headboard and tried to twist it loose, using her power to help. She almost had it before Cal came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck, pulling her backwards. If she was at full strength, she might have been able to fight him off, but she was too weak from the previous beating employed by her captor.

As it was, she was only able to kick her legs futilely as he dragged her backwards. She called for Paige and Prue as Cal pulled an athame out of thin air and held it to her throat, silencing her.

"Whoever the hell this bitch Prue is, she won't help you now," he said, his breath ragged from the pain Billie had caused him.

"Yeah, well how about the other sister?" A third voice rang through the room and Billie turned towards it quickly, flinching when the knife pierced her skin. Cal looked as well and was met by three very pissed off witches. When he realized he had company, he held Billie off of the ground by her neck, not letting her relax her body for fear of being stabbed.

"This the guy who hurt you, Bill?" Paige asked.

"I…" Billie trailed off, mortified that the Halliwells had to rescue her _again. _

"Yeah, well, he called Prue a bitch so he either knew her or deserves to get blown up," Phoebe replied, getting ready to fight him.

Cal smiled and held the athame to Billie's already bleeding throat, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think you're the ones in charge here," he started. "In fact, if I had to guess, that would be-"

Piper rolled her eyes and raised her hands, freezing him. "Me," she finished.

Billie struggled to disengage herself from Cal's grip without piercing herself more with the knife; Paige shook her head when she realized what the younger girl was doing and rushed over to help.

"I'm fine," Billie almost snapped, making Paige step back in surprise. She moved forward again, however, when Billie tried to stand up and swayed, almost falling down. Paige started to lead her to the bed when Billie shrugged her off, moving to lean against the wall. They heard a noise and turned back to see Piper freeze Cal for the second time.

"What are we going to do about him?" she asked.

"Well, blow him up," Paige frowned, as if she were stating the obvious.

"Right," Piper replied. She flicked her hands at him but nothing happened. Moving them again produced the same unhelpful result. Billie closed her eyes and frowned as Phoebe marched up to the frozen demon, punching him in the face and kicking him in the groin.

When she saw her sisters looking at her in confusion she shrugged. "What? If we can't kill him yet, we might as well make him hurt like hell when he unfreezes."

"Come on, sweetie, let's get out of here," Paige whispered to Billie as she orbed everyone back to the manor.

They arrived in Billie's room and Billie stayed still, lost in thought. Paige could only imagine what she was thinking, and got no taste of it as Billie remained silent.

"I'm going to go make you something to eat," Piper said, not at all unhappy to be out of the suffocating awkwardness and pain.

Billie met her eyes, but didn't say anything and walked over to sit in a chair. Phoebe and Paige shared a glance and walked over to her, kneeling down on either side of the chair. Billie didn't acknowledge them, but they decided to try and get a response anyway.

"Billie, sweetie, are you alright? Did he hurt…" Phoebe was about to ask if he hurt Billie, but the answer was more than obvious from the looks of her, "the baby?" she finished.

The young girl didn't speak for a moment, but when Phoebe was about to give up and stand up, she laughed bitterly. "What baby?"

Paige gasped, but Billie understood that she had misinterpreted her words and continued.

"There's no baby, apparently. Never was," she said.

"But… the test. And…" Paige spoke uncertainly.

Billie didn't respond, silent again.

"You were calling Prue's name back there," Phoebe tried.

"So?"

"So you've never met Prue, why would you call her?"

"How did you know where to find me?" Billie countered, avoiding the question completely.

"We had some help," Phoebe admitted. "You know how the Book likes to read itself sometimes."

"Too bad it's not more often," Billie said to herself.

"What do you mean?" Paige asked

"Nothing. I have to go," Billie said as she stood up and walked upstairs. Phoebe and Paige rushed after her, with Paige in the lead. When she got to the hallway, she saw Billie heading up the stairs and stopped suddenly, causing Phoebe to run into her back.

"What was that for?" Phoebe hissed.

"She's only going upstairs," Paige replied, confused.

Phoebe made a move to follow again, but Paige grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Don't push her. She's not leaving the house, that's good enough for now."

7x7x7x

Billie entered the attic and locked the door behind her, leaning against it to collect herself before moving over to the Book of Shadows.

"Come on, come on," she murmured, looking for something to help her. When she grew impatient and tears welled in her eyes, she looked skywards.

"I need you," she said quietly. "Help me, please."

After a moment of deafening silence, the Book's pages fluttered under her arms, trying to move. She jumped and lifted her hands, letting the pages move to the correct spell. She ignored the writing above the rhyme itself and read the spell quickly.

_Hear these words, hear my cry  
Spirit from the other side  
Come to me, I summon thee  
Cross now the Great Divide_

A swirl of golden lights appeared, forming the figure of a woman who Billie now knew to be Prue Halliwell. Prue looked confused as she glanced around the room. Looking up, she saw Billie and took a step back.

"How the hell did you do that?" she snapped.

**I'm running out of clever one-liners to put at the end of my chapters. Or it could have to do with all of my non-sleep last night. Either way, reviews? They'd be pretty sweet. **


	8. Cue the Sun

**Oh I like this chapter. :D And by the way, for some reason FF won't let me send review replies, so I'm not ignoring you or anything, I just actually can't reply to you. But I'm still beyond thankful for you faithful readers. :)  
**

"I-it was… It was in the Book," Billie stuttered.

"Obviously, but where are the candles?" Prue snapped.

Tears attacked Billie's vision once again; this wasn't the woman who was in her dream, it couldn't be. She wanted to hit herself- what the hell was wrong with her? Six words from this woman and she already started to cry! It seemed like she'd never get back to normal.

"I shouldn't have done this, I'm sorry," she apologized. "You can go back if you want."

"No, look. I'm sorry; it's just pretty hard traveling across time and space for the first time. I'll get used to it, come here," Prue said, sitting down on the couch. Billie hesitated, but moved over to the oldest Halliwell sister figuring that things probably couldn't get any worse. Once she sat down, she fell apart, letting loose all of the emotions that she didn't acknowledge in the underworld with Paige and Phoebe. Prue stayed sitting with her arm around Billie, not saying a word but just letting her let everything out.

"They couldn't vanquish him!" she said when she was finally able to speak clearly.

Prue sighed and Billie tensed, expecting that the next thing to come out of the former witch's mouth wouldn't be in her favor. She was all too right.

"That's because _you_ have to."

Billie shot up and pulled away from Prue. "What? They're- they're the _Charmed Ones! _Why can't they do it? I can't do that."

"You have to, Billie. Otherwise he'll have won, you know that?"

"N-no. I'll be fine as long as he's dead; it doesn't matter _who _kills him, as long as I'm still here and he's not. I don't care; I don't need to be the one to kill him."

"That's not true. If you don't do it yourself, it will mean that he still has power over you, be it physically or mentally. Vanquishing him is the only way to conquer the hold he has on you."

"That's majorly fu-"

"Billie," Prue interrupted sternly. Billie sighed and leaned against Prue's shoulder, looking up at the ceiling in a silent prayer, and hoping that maybe for once, the Elders would help her out.

"Please don't make me, Prue," she whispered, moving back into her and relaxing. She was suddenly tired from everything- coming home, living in the mansion, being kidnapped, being rescued and being suffocated by the sisters. She closed her eyes and brought her legs up to her chest, breathing in the smell of Prue's perfume. She wondered if you were stuck with whatever you happened to be wearing when you died for all eternity. If so, Prue had been lucky enough to be wearing something that smelled good.

She woke up some time later to pounding on the attic door and yells from the other side. She found herself alone, without the comfort of Prue to face the world again. She was about to get up from the couch when blue lights appeared in front of her and Paige materialized with Phoebe holding her arm.

"What the hell were you thinking, locking the door? You could have been killed!"

Billie was genuinely confused, "But you can orb in here."

"Then why'd you lock it in the first place?" Paige asked, still annoyed.

"Because I thought that maybe for a few minutes, I could actually get some privacy around here!"

"Not with what's going on right now," Paige shot back, her voice just barely under control.

"No, _especially _with what's going on right now!"

"Billie, how the hell are we supposed to protect you if we can't trust you to let us?" Phoebe asked softly.

"And I should let you why? Because you've done _such _an amazing job so far," she spat, glaring at Paige. She noted how the fight went right out of the older witch when she aimed the words at her, and felt a tug at her heart. She didn't want to hurt her friends, but she felt like she couldn't talk to them about what was going on. Ever since she'd gotten home, they'd acted like she was made of glass but they hadn't confronted her about it.

Instead of storming out again, she sat back down on the couch and put her head in her hands, trying to control the overload of emotions running through her. Truth be told, she was still terrified of Cal and what had happened, but she felt like all the sisters cared about was getting rid of the demon, just like any other enemy they'd faced before.

"I can't do this." She was speaking to Prue, but the other two women in the room had no way of knowing that.

"Oh, sweetie," Phoebe gushed, rushing over to Billie and putting her arm around her. "We'll get through this, I promise."

Billie couldn't see, but Paige was still standing in front of her, a look of guilt and hurt on her face.

8x8x8x

Piper hummed along to the radio as she added another ingredient to the meal she was making. Suddenly she stopped, a chill making its way up her spine. She spun around, ready to freeze or blow up an intruder, but only found Paige standing behind her.

"Oh, hey honey. Want to help me with this?"

"You hate it when people try to help you cook," her younger sister replied in a somewhat monotonous tone.

"Good point. Pull up a chair, my cooking therapy sessions are free of charge today."

Paige rolled her eyes at Piper's theatrical wave of her hand around the kitchen, but sat down at the island as her sister measured a cup of flour carefully.

"So, what's on your mind?" she asked as she leveled the powder off of the top of the cup.

"Billie blames me for not being there," Paige said.

"I'm sure she doesn't," Piper replied, somewhat unhelpfully.

"Well you should have heard her upstairs. She admitted it. I don't know why I suck as a whitelighter."

"You don't suck, honey. I mean, it doesn't matter how long you've been a whitelighter for, how are you supposed to know how to deal with a situation like this? It isn't exactly something we come across a lot, thank God."

"I just feel like no matter what happens, I'm never going to be as close to Billie as we are to Leo," Paige sighed.

"Well, maybe not. But Leo has tons of other charges all over the world, and he's not as close to them as he is to us, but they're all still fine."

"I guess you're right, but still…"

"I know, sweetie, but just give it time. I'm sure Billie doesn't blame you; she's only looking for an outlet for her pain, and you were the first person in front of her."

8x8x8x

After Billie had showered and changed, she headed downstairs for dinner. For the first time in months, everyone sat down to eat. Billie was sitting next to Wyatt, with Piper and Phoebe at the ends of the table and Paige and Chris across from her. The food was fabulous as usual, but Billie wasn't eating. She'd taken a few bites at the start of the meal when she noticed the sisters watching her, but now Piper was preoccupied with her sons and Paige and Phoebe were arguing over whether Cher was better off without Sonny or not.

"Come on, Paige, hello? 'Believe' is a classic, not to mention 'If I Could Turn Back Time.'"

"Um, excuse me, but I think you're neglecting to mention 'I Got You, Babe.' It's only like, the greatest karaoke duet song ever."

Phoebe scoffed, "Yeah, maybe if you're fifty."

Billie tuned out of the conversation and pushed her potatoes around with her fork. Wyatt was painting a picture with his apple sauce and Piper was trying to get Chris to eat using the train technique. She resisted the urge to sigh and put her head in her hands, not wanting the attention she was sure to get if she did.

"Honey, you're not eating," Paige noticed.

Billie shrugged noncommittally and poured herself more milk, the only thing she could keep down.

Paige turned to her sisters for support and Piper jumped in.

"Do you want something else? I could make you some soup or anything else, if you want."

"No thanks."

"You have to eat something, Billie, it's not healthy not to," Phoebe put in.

"Do you guys agree on everything?" Billie asked, not unkindly.

"Everything but Cher," Paige quipped.

"Look, I understand that you want to make sure I'm okay, and I- well, alright, I'm not, but I'm not starving myself, I'm just not hungry right now. And I promise that I'll eat, just… don't make me now, okay?"

Piper nodded at Paige and she raised her hands in defeat. "Okay, Bill. But just let us know when you're hungry."

"I will," Billie said as she pushed her chair out from the table. She walked into the kitchen and emptied her plate into the trash, ignoring the three pairs of eyes that she knew were following her. When she heard Piper chastising Wyatt, she finally relaxed against the island.

"Prue, I don't think I can do this. I can't deal with them after all of this," she said, looking to the ceiling. There was no response and Billie walked down to her room. She turned on the lights on and took out her laptop, checking her college courses and making sure she was signed up for the right classes. Getting caught up web surfing, she was surprised to see how late it was when she checked the clock. She turned off her computer and got into bed, keeping the lights on.

She was afraid to close her eyes, knowing what happened the last time she slept in this bed. She looked up, hearing someone come down the stairs.

"Billie, you're still awake," Paige said, surprised. She turned off the main light and walked over to the younger witch, who was now trying to see in the dark without getting too worked up.

"Yeah, I uh, couldn't sleep," she explained, starting to move.

"How are you going to sleep with the lights on and sitting up?" Paige asked sarcastically, moving over to sit on the bed.

"How am I going to sleep with the lights off?" Billie spoke softly, not loud enough for Paige to hear. She was extremely uncomfortable with lying down while Paige was sitting near her, and the fact that she wasn't at ease with it made her feel even worse. She was supposed to trust Paige completely, and she couldn't.

After a few long moments of silence, Paige stood up, never comfortable with the quiet.

"Well, I just came down to see if you were doing alright, I'll go," she said, beginning to turn.

Billie found her hand shooting out to grab Paige's arm.

"No!" she said louder than she had intended. Grimacing, she adjusted her words. "I mean, you- you don't have to." Paige looked as stunned as Billie felt, but caught herself and smiled, sitting down on a chair and turning out the light. Billie tried to go to sleep, but found herself tossing and turning.

"Um, Paige?" she whispered.

"Yeah Bill?"

"Could you maybe… um," she didn't finish her sentence, for once completely grateful for the darkness as she could feel her face turning beet red.

She couldn't see, but Paige was smiling from where she sat. "Do you want me to?"

"Yeah," she replied, glad that Paige understood what she was asking. She tensed for a moment as Paige got into the bed, but then relaxed, realizing that she felt much safer. A few moments later, she was fast asleep.

**Aww, finally some Billie Paige bonding. Jeeze, it's about time. The next update involves someone we haven't seen in a while! (It's not Andy, by the way.)**


	9. Don't Forget to Remember Me

**More bonding goodness! Also, the promised prodigal character and… shopping?**

Billie spent the next few days in a haze of fear. She tried to call Prue a few times, but was never answered or visited by the woman. She and Paige had grown somewhat closer, and she felt much more comfortable around the sisters, who seemed less cautious of her in return. However, after a few days stuck in the house, she started to feel suffocated.

"I'm going out for a while," she announced to Paige one day while Phoebe and Piper were at work.

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, Bill," Paige said to her as she looked through the mail, leaving all the bills in Piper's pile and an ad for Viagra in Phoebe's. Billie shifted from foot to foot, starting to become anxious.

"Just for a walk. You can come, if you want," she tried desperately.

Paige looked up, surprised. She hadn't expected an invitation, no matter how much time they were spending together lately.

"Uh, okay, I guess that'd be fine."

"Thank God," Billie said as she rushed downstairs to get changed. When she came back up, she saw Paige grabbing her car keys.

"You want to go shopping instead?" she grinned.

Billie smiled and nodded.

9x9x9x

The two women had been walking for an hour and Paige's arms were holding more and more bags by the minute.

"You do realize that being a Charmed One doesn't come with a pay check, right? Or am I getting the short end of the stick with this witchy deal?"

"We only get paid in death threats," Paige agreed, "But I'm the kind of person who goes forever without buying something new and then spends all of her saved money in a day. Today's that day."

At that moment, an angry looking business man on a cell phone rushed by them and knocked into Paige, causing her to drop all of her things.

"Jerk!" she called after him as she and Billie bent down to pick up the bags.

"Here you go," a voice said, handing a bag to Billie as she started to stand up.

"Thanks," she replied, taking it without looking at the man.

"Billie?" he asked hesitantly.

Looking up at the speaker, her eyes widened.

"Dave?"

"Paige," Paige threw in, waving at the newcomer.

"Oh, right. Dave, this is my friend, Paige. Paige, this is Dave. I met him in L.A. when I was… planning to move there," Billie inclined her head and widened her eyes, hoping that Paige would get the message.

"Of course," Paige said, extending her hand for Dave to shake. He took her hand and smiled, but turned back to Billie almost immediately.

"So, you never stopped by," he said, only half-joking.

"Yeah, I had some things that I had to take care of back here, and the moving back was kind of abrupt," Billie said. "So what are you doing here?"

"I actually got a job offer, so I'm moving here for now. I was going to a meeting," he said.

Billie noticed that he didn't say what the job was, but figured she was just being paranoid.

"Oh, well don't let me keep you," Billie said, taking a step back to show him that he was welcome to leave.

"Yeah, okay. It was good seeing you again, Billie," he said as he continued to walk down the street. Paige noticed the look on Billie's face as he left, and she felt sorry for the young girl until they heard him call back.

"Billie!" he called as he walked back towards them quickly. "I just realized that I didn't have your number, you know, because you were still between homes the last time we met. Could I get it?" he asked shyly.

Billie smiled and Paige could tell it was genuine. "Sure," she said as she programmed it into his cell phone. Dave grinned.

"So, maybe we could catch up some time?"

"I'd like that," Billie said.

Paige couldn't help but notice that the smile didn't leave Billie's face all day.

9x9x9x

Billie was in her room, listening to her new CD, the only thing she'd bought during her outing with Paige. Phoebe and Piper still weren't home, and Paige was in her room, painting. Billie closed her eyes and bobbed her head to the music, twirling a pencil in between her fingers as she mouthed the words to the music, occasionally singing out loud. She jerked in surprise when someone touched her on the shoulder and her eyes shot open.

"Prue!" She must have yelled because Prue grabbed her headphones and took them off of her ears, looking annoyed.

"Turn that down, you'll go deaf if you keep listening to it at that volume."

Billie raised an eyebrow and stopped the CD, getting up to hug the older woman.

"I tried calling you like a hundred times, where were you?"

"I was busy."

"You're dead, how busy can you be?"

Prue looked uncomfortable and Billie immediately steeled herself for the bad news that she knew was coming.

"I was… pleading a case on your behalf."

"My 'case'?"

"The elders want Cal dead by tomorrow. I tried to get them to give you more time, but apparently the demon he's working for is getting a larger following and Cal is one of the strongest. He needs to be vanquished."

Billie immediately sat back down on her bed, trying to figure out how she would proceed.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"I'll flip the Book of Shadows to the right vanquishing potion."

"I have to kill him myself?"

"It's the only way, honey," Prue said sadly as she sat next to Billie.

"Well- but Piper, Phoebe and Paige can be there, right?"

"I tried to let them be there, but the Elders wouldn't have it. I think they're scared of them getting angry and killing him themselves. Piper doesn't know it yet, but when she's really pissed off, she could blow through the Great Wall of China, literally."

"Well, can you be there?"

"I doubt the Elders could stop me if they wanted to," Prue smiled.

"Billie?" A voice drifted downstairs and the blonde witch started.

"You'd better-" Billie started to say as Prue disappeared in a swirl of golden lights.

"Go."

"Who are you talking to?" Paige asked.

"Nobody. I was just listening to music,' Billie said, holding up her Discman.

Page frowned and Billie froze, afraid that she'd been caught, but Paige just shrugged and let it go.

"Jeeze, get an MP3 player. It's not the 90's any more."

"Hey, I get along fine with this. Why spend more money?"

"Because it's fun?" Paige guessed.

"It's more fun to have money."

"Whatever."

"Well, there's a lot to say for your debate skills."

Paige stuck out her tongue at Billie and sat next to her.

"I have to go out for a while and Phoebe and Piper won't be home from work until late. Will you be okay here alone?"

"Yeah, no. I'll be fine, go ahead."

"If anything happens, and I mean anything- even if you just watched a scary movie and you're the tiniest bit freaked out- I want you to promise to call me, okay?"

"Promise," Billie said, not looking Paige in the eyes. She knew that she wouldn't be calling Paige for anything that night.

"Okay, bye sweetie."

When she heard the door close, Billie rushed up the stairs to the attic and to the Book of Shadows. Just as Prue had promised, the Book was open to a specific vanquishing potion; Billie copied down the instructions and ran back downstairs to the kitchen.

She waited around anxiously until the stove timer beeped and she opened the freezer, grabbing a small piece of Belthazor's flesh that the sisters kept in there for emergencies. Cringing at what she was holding, she dropped it into the potion and flinched as a bout of flame appeared. She filled four vials with the potion, putting two in her pants pockets and one each in her jacket pockets.

"Prue, I need to get this over with," she called out to the ceiling. Prue appeared almost instantly in front of her.

"Already?" she asked.

"It's now or never," she replied, holding up the vial in her hand and shaking it.

"Alright," Prue said, taking her hand. Billie noticed that traveling with Prue was entirely different from orbing or shimmering. While orbing wasn't unpleasant, this was far better. It felt like being hugged from every direction, and warmth radiated around her. The warmth disappeared, however, when they arrived at their destination. They were in a cave- Billie assumed in the Underworld- and Cal had his back to them, bending over a crude stone table and reading something.

Billie clutched the potion tighter and looked to Prue shaking her head.

"You can do this, Billie. Just throw the potion. He can't see or hear me, but if he sees you, you're in trouble."

Billie nodded and tried to steady her hand. She launched the potion at Cal, aiming at his back. It flew towards him and would have hit him had he not held up a hand and stopped it without turning around. Billie took a step back and looked to glance at Prue again, who was gone.

"Your thoughts were much louder than your breathing, babe," Cal said, finally turning around as Billie was left alone.

**Space for rent.**

**Next week: The Final Showdown!**


	10. The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game

**I got so into this when I was writing it. Seriously, I was like "Kick his ass, Billie!" I hope it turned out as well on paper as it was in my mind.**

Billie's hand shot to her pocket, searching for her second vial.

"Are you looking for something?" he asked, moving towards her, "Because I think I have it."

Cal grabbed the first potion from the place it hung in the air and showed a second to Billie.

"You know, maybe I should vanquish _you."_

"You can't vanquish a witch," Billie said, even though she had no idea if it was possible to vanquish someone good.

"Well, you don't know if it's possible, and I'll admit to being curious, so why don't we find out?"

Cal moved as if to walk towards her, but shimmered out and appeared behind her back, wrapping one arm around her stomach and placing a hand at her throat. She froze, knowing beyond a doubt that he'd break her neck if she struggled. He pulled her backwards and she felt cold steel encase her wrists.

"It wasn't the smartest battle plan to come into _my _home alone and hope to vanquish me, Billie."

"So I was supposed to wait until you came and attacked me?" Billie shot back, hoping that Cal didn't hear her voice trembling.

"No wonder I liked you," he replied, his eyes moving slowly over her body.

Billie couldn't take any more of the situation, and she started to struggle against the chains holding her to the wall. Cal casually opened the first vial of vanquishing potion and dripped some onto her chest. Billie hadn't been prepared for the move and screamed in agony as her skin was burned.

"Oh, so it looks like this stuff does work on you," he said.

Billie tried to catch her breath and ignore the fact that her chest felt like it was slowly being devoured by flames. Cal waited for her breathing to return to normal before tilting the vial towards her skin again. Billie jerked forward, her breath catching in her throat as her injured chest came into contact with the glass. Cal took a step back at the sudden movement and almost dropped the potion. As he bent down to grab it before it hit the ground, Billie kicked him under the chin, sending him sprawling backwards.

Her feet landed on the spilled potion and she slipped, being caught by the chains holding her wrists. The metal dug into her wrists and she gasped, trying to stand up again and take the weight off of her wrists. She tried to get herself free of the chains and succeeded in unlocking one of the cuffs before Cal recovered. He stepped over the potion and slammed her into the wall, his hand on her chest. The key to the cuffs fell to the ground behind her and Billie frantically tried to unlock the chains with her powers, but to no avail.

Cal put on a glove and held the empty vial in his hand, hitting her in the face with it. Glass embedded itself into her cheek and the small drops of potion left in the bottle invaded her already open cuts. Billie cried out again and her legs gave out underneath her, her body unable to cope with the pain she was in.

He rubbed his chin and looked at her for a moment before punching her in the stomach. Billie gripped her abdomen with her one free hand and tried to stop the pain while Cal moved back to the table he had been standing at when she had come in.

"I've got some things to do right now, babe, so try not to suffer too loudly," he said before returning to his reading. Billie spent the next five minutes trying to regulate her breathing and quell the pain she was still experiencing. Her legs were shaking badly, but she could only lean against the cave wall, which didn't help.

She couldn't believe that Prue had left her; she couldn't believe that she'd been so stupid to go alone with a woman she'd met only days before. It may not have even been Prue, it could have been a demon. The more Billie thought about her situation, the angrier she became at herself and at Cal. If Cal hadn't done all of this to her, she'd still be normal. She wouldn't have gotten into drugs and she'd have a much better relationship with, well, everyone. The anger welled up in her and she felt like she was going to explode when she heard a slight clicking above her head. Looking up, she noticed that the key had flown upwards and unlocked the remaining cuff.

She looked at her hand and then back at Cal. She remembered reading about people who saw red when they were angry. Billie didn't just see red, she saw flames. She took a step towards Cal, her legs regaining all stability and confidence. She waved her arm towards him and he was flung into the wall sideways.

"You're the reason everything is going wrong in my life," she yelled at him as he stood up, smiling.

"You finally got a backbone," he replied, looking amused.

She flung him against the wall again, ignoring his comment.

"You're the reason I ran away. You're the reason I killed someone. You're the reason I had to be stuck in that damned clinic for weeks."

With each accusation, she threw Cal a little harder, a little faster. And with each attack, she became more and more angry.

"You _raped _me. You were a disgusting excuse for a human being before you became a demon, and you're going to get exactly what you deserve. You're going to burn down here forever."

She thrust out her arm and threw him into the ceiling. Calling for the potion in his pocket was easy, and when she did it rocketed towards her, changing course immediately before it reached her and launching back towards Cal. His smirk was gone now, and Billie smiled, seeing fear in his eyes. As it hit him in the chest, she held him up with her right arm as she reached into her jacket for the other two potions.

"I am _sick _of being treated like this. You don't deserve my fear, and you don't deserve to live."

She threw the two potions one after another and let go of her hold on him as they hit him square in the chest. He fell to the floor and Billie called for the spilled potion. As it rose from the floor, Billie's anger was reaching its peak.

"This was the last thing you hurt me with, and it's the last thing you'll ever see or feel."

With that last remark, Billie brought her two hands together, causing Cal and the potion to fly together, exploding in flames on contact.

Billie tried to smile, but the overuse of her power was making her feel extremely tired. Her eyes began to close and she was powerless to stop them, falling to the hard ground.

10x10x10x

Paige opened the door to the manor and walked in. It was one in the morning and she was wiped out. Piper and Phoebe were at P3 but she declined the invitation, feeling like she should be with Billie. Of course, they wouldn't be spending any time together that night seeing as how she was probably asleep and if she wasn't, Paige planned to bitch at her until she was.

She walked through the kitchen without turning on the light, moving straight downstairs. When she didn't see Billie, she called out her name. There was no response and Paige started to get worried. She kept the light on in the room and walked quickly back upstairs and right to the second floor.

_Maybe she's taking a bath. Yeah, that's probably it._

She arrived to the second floor and checked both bathrooms before sprinting upstairs to the attic. The Book of Shadows was open and she started to suspect what Billie was up to. She rushed to the Book and looked at the page it was open to.

_A vanquishing potion. __Oh no, no, no, no._

She ran back downstairs, grabbing the phone on her way. She got into the kitchen and slid on the floor as she tried to stop herself. Turning on the light, she found multiple potion ingredients out and a pot on the stove, along with a post it with the same instructions that had been in the Book upstairs. She dialed Piper's cell phone and didn't wait for her to speak when she picked up.

"Get Phoebe and go into your office alone, now. I'll be waiting for you."

She was orbing out before Piper hung up the phone.

When Piper and Phoebe opened the door, they saw Paige looking pissed off, which really meant that she was terrified.

"Billie went after Cal alone," she blurted out the second they closed the door. Again, not giving them a chance to speak, she grabbed them and orbed them back into the kitchen.

"Oh no," Phoebe gasped as she took in the scene in front of her.

"Oh yes," Paige replied before orbing off again and reappearing a moment later with a map and crystal in hand. She moved over to the table and threw the map down, immediately starting to scry.

Phoebe and Piper looked at each other in shock after Paige snapped at them to "do something." They had never seen their sister like this before, and were somewhat apprehensive. She was acting a little like Piper did right after she lost Prue.

When the scrying didn't work, Paige swore badly and repeatedly. She orbed away and with another glance, Piper and Phoebe rushed up the stairs. When they got to the attic, they found Paige swearing at the ceiling. When she hit the Book of Shadows and knocked it to the floor, Piper rushed over to her sister and grabbed her, bringing her over to the couch, still yelling.

"Tell us where she is, damn it! How dare you not tell us what she was doing! You're worthless pieces of sh-!" Piper put her hand over her little sister's mouth, looking up at the ceiling with an apologetic expression.

Phoebe went to pick up the Book and whispered something to herself. Apparently it worked, and she found a spell. Piper and Paige were oblivious to their sister's actions and were extremely surprised to find themselves being transported to another place.

When Paige saw Billie on the floor, she rushed over to her, trying to shake her awake. Her eyes darted around the cavern, looking for an enemy that was nowhere to be seen. Phoebe noticed a scorch mark on the ground and walked over to it, investigating the burn.

"Billie, come on, wake up. Billie, you wake up this second or I'll kill you!"

Tears started falling out of Paige's eyes and she wiped them away angrily.

"I swear if you don't wake up right now, you are in so much trouble."

When Billie didn't stir, Paige stood up, her eyes flashing.

"Where the hell is he?" She started muttering to herself, trying to remember the spell to summon a demon, but she couldn't recall more than a few words.

"Paige," Phoebe said softly.

"I swear to God, when I find him, he's going to wish he were dead."

"Paige," she said again, a little louder.

"No, he's going to wish he'd never been born. When I'm through with him, he'll be nothing more than a-"

"_Paige!_"

"What?!" Paige whirled towards her older sister, ready to direct her rage at Phoebe if need be.

"I think he's already dead."

"What the hell do you mean, 'He's already dead'?" she almost sneered.

Phoebe got up and ignored her sister's tone, knowing how scared she really was.

"I think Billie killed him."

"He'll be damn lucky if she did," Paige replied.

"Uh, guys? Maybe we should get Billie home," Piper interjected.

Paige looked at Piper and then back at Billie before the fire was extinguished from her eyes and she orbed everyone back to the manor.

**I'm actually thinking it would have been awesome to see Paige destroy Cal at that point. Anyway, I'd love reviews for this chapter more than any other, because it really was the most important one in the story, and I want to make sure I did it right. So what did you think? Too much of something, not enough of another? Let me know, all it takes is a couple clicks of the mouse and a few more keystrokes.  
**


	11. Here with Me

This is dialogue-happy, and I hope you like it, cause my computer deleted it and I had to redo it from a rough draft. Anyway, enjoy! Epilogue will be up at the normal time. :)

Paige had been watching Billie sleep for hours, and didn't plan to leave her side until she woke up. She would then bitch at her for how stupid she'd been until she fell back asleep. It was a good plan, but Paige was starting to get worried when Billie had been unconscious for hours.

"Hey sweetie, you're still down here?" Piper asked, bringing some soup down for Paige.

"Piper, what if she doesn't wake up? What if she's in a coma? We don't even know how long she'd been unconscious for before we showed up. And did you see her chest? I don't know what the hell that guy did to her, but the skin was completely incinerated, like she was on fire or something!"

"Oh honey," Piper said, sitting down next to Paige and pulling her into a hug. "Billie is going to be fine."

"How do you know that? You don't know that. You're lying."

"Hey! I never lie," Piper smiled, but Paige could tell that she was serious.

"Well you're just wrong then. How do you know she's going to be okay?"

"Because she's got you, sweetie."

Paige looked up at her older sister and smiled, hugging her.

"I love you, Piper."

"I love you, too."

"Yeah, we all love each other," a third voice sounded in the room, slightly above a whisper.

"Oh thank God, Billie. Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Do you want another pillow? Are you hungry, thirsty? Do you want some water? Do you-"

"Paige, shut up. I don't want anything but some Advil."

"I'll get that," Piper said.

When she saw that Billie was going to live, Paige's eyes narrowed.

"How could you be so stupid, Billie? Do you have any idea how idiotic that was? You are in _huge _trouble. I can't believe you did that! You could have been killed! This wasn't some lower level demon, this was serious stuff! You could have frozen up; he might not even have killed you! Anything could have hap-" Paige broke off from her second rant as Billie sat up and hugged her.

"Unfair," the older witch complained.

Billie started laughing, which led to a severe coughing fit. At that moment, Piper had come back downstairs with the Advil and a glass of water, so Billie took a sip and calmed down. After taking the medicine, Paige pushed Billie back down into the bed.

"Where's Phoebe?" she asked.

"Oh, she's at work. She didn't want to leave, so I orbed her there and left, so she doesn't have a way to get back unless she takes public transportation, which she hates."

Billie tried to sit up again, having been unconscious for so long, but Paige pushed her back down gently.

"No way. You are staying in this bed until you graduate, missy."

"Come on, guys. I'm fine really."

"Hah, have you seen yourself?"

Billie groaned and crossed her arms. If she was going to be forced to lie down, she wouldn't take it… well, lying down.

"So, Billie, did he…"

"He didn't do anything you can't see, and nothing I can't handle," Billie replied, motioning to her bandaged chest.

Paige relaxed immensely at Billie's answer to her unspoken question, and spent the next ten minutes forcing her to eat the soup that Piper had brought down for her.

11x11x11x

Paige had left an hour before and Billie was sitting quietly with her eyes closed, thinking about the events of the day when she saw a flare of light behind her eyelids. She opened her eyes to find a young man in a golden robe standing before her.

"Who are you?" she asked, frowning.

"I am Theodore, an Elder. I am here on behalf of the entire line of Elders to personally introduce Prudence Halliwell to you."

Billie considered calling for Paige, but decided to wait it out. "I've already met 'Prue,' and she abandoned me when I needed her the most. If that was the real Prue, then I don't think I want to see her again."

"That is why I have come before you first. We felt it was necessary to recall Prudence due to the unusual circumstances of your case."

"Excuse me?"

"We could not risk Prudence interfering with the events of the day."

"You took her against her will and left me to die?" Billie was getting angry, but tried to see the Elders' point of view. She couldn't.

"It was a necessary measure."

"Get out."

"I'm sorry?"

"You should be. Get the hell out of my room and let me see Prue, now."

"I really don't think that-"

"If you don't leave right now, I'll call the sisters and we can all make sure that you never orb again," Billie said, glaring at the Elder. He orbed out in a huff and Billie relaxed.

When golden lights appeared once again, Billie thought that the Elder was coming back for a second round and started to stand up. Instead, Prue appeared and immediately narrowed her eyes at the young girl.

"You should be sitting down," she scolded.

Billie's face broke into a grin and she hugged the older witch, extremely happy that Prue hadn't left her on her own accord.

"I'm so sorry," Prue said after making Billie sit back down. "I wasn't expecting them to call me back so quickly, and then they anchored me Up There." Prue looked immensely annoyed at the fact that she was "anchored," and Billie guessed that the scene Up There hadn't been a nice one with an angry Prue.

"So, will they still let you come down here since this is over?"

"There'll be hell to pay if they don't," Prue smiled.

Billie smiled and leaned back, closing her eyes. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Billie spoke.

"Hey Prue?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you're not going to see your sisters?"

"They don't need me."

"But don't you want to see them?'

"Of course I do."

"And don't you want to meet Paige?"

"I've met her."

Billie frowned at this. "You have?"

"Oh yeah, we talk a lot when she's dreaming. She just doesn't remember it if it's really me that she's seeing."

"Oh," Billie said.

"Hey Billie?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't kill that kid in the park when you ran away to Los Angeles."

Billie's eyes shot open.

"What?"

"The guys already in the gang ran away when you were fighting the two boys being initiated. After you passed out, they came back and killed him. That was the punishment for failing his test."

"Why didn't they kill me too? I was passed out, which, you know, means 'Come kill me' to gangs."

"You think I'd let anyone kill you?" Prue smiled, and Billie understood.

"Thanks."

She must have fallen asleep after that, because the next thing she knew, Paige was shaking her awake softly.

"Billie, honey, it's time for dinner. I brought you some mac and cheese."

Billie looked at Paige, knowing that Piper thought of macaroni and cheese as completely taboo. The older woman shrugged apologetically.

"Piper's not home."

Billie sat up in the bed and decided that this was by far the best macaroni and cheese she'd ever eaten.

**I really want some mac and cheese, but I'll settle for your opinion of the chapter.**


	12. All of This Past

**Gah! I **_**so **_**posted this days ago!**

* * *

_Maybe I should start this with a "dear diary."_

_Dear Diary,_

_I found this- you, I guess- in a box at the bottom of my closet. I had completely forgotten about it, and I only have one other entry from when I was in rehab._

_Cal is dead; dead and gone, and he's never coming back. If he does find a way back, I'm pretty sure that he'll be sorry if Paige ever sees him._

_Things have almost gotten back to normal around here. Well, as normal as life with the Halliwells can ever be. I've started back at school, and it's not as hard as I thought it would be to catch up. I've seen Jamie a few times, but I haven't really spoken to her. I like her a lot, but I can't take the risk of associating with people who could drag me back into the drug scene, you know?_

_I also saw Parker once, and he caught my eyes across the room. I was pretty scared because I thought he was coming over to me, but he looked terrified and almost ran the other way. I talked to Piper about it, but she was really vague and just told me that she simply asked him not to bother me anymore because I'm off drugs. I don't think that I believe her. _

_I feel really bad that Prue can't see her sisters when she visits me because I've seen Piper go into her room when she thinks nobody's looking and take out the shoebox of photo albums that she hides under her bed. It's worse now that Leo's gone, too. I've almost let it slip a few times, but I managed to catch myself at the last minute. I bet that Piper would be less than pleased finding out about my one last secret._

_Phoebe doesn't really talk about Prue much and she has no hidden shoebox that I know about, so I don't know how she'd react to the situation if she ever saw her dead sister._

_Paige probably just wants to meet her. I can relate, with Christy and everything._

_Either way, I'm just happy that I can still see Prue._

_Dave called me the other day and asked me out. I wasn't sure how I felt about a real date, as I hadn't been on one in a long time, but it was Dave, so I said yes. I was a wreck before I went out, though, and Paige had to pick out my outfit for me. Of course, I'm pretty sure she would have anyway- Paige doesn't have a lot of self-control when it comes to clothes._

_It turns out that Dave's job was a CD deal, and he didn't tell me because he didn't want to brag about something that hadn't happened yet. And he wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that his job doesn't have the most stable income. I guess I was just being paranoid._

_I still have nightmares about Cal, and I don't know if they'll ever stop completely. But I've got four friends to help me through it, and I know that they really want to help. I don't know if there's a feeling better than that._

_Paige and I have been spending more and more time together, and one time I was watching The Ring, and when I screamed, she orbed in right in front of the TV. I got kind of annoyed because I need a good steady flow when I'm watching movies, but Paige had this ridiculous grin on her face when she realized what had happened. I don't know why; she's just really weird some times._

_Anyway, I better go, I've got another date with Dave, and I don't want to be late. I'm making him watch 'Alice in Wonderland' with me, and I'm going to prove that there's nothing to be afraid of. I mean, I've literally lived it, and I can still watch the movie, so I think he can too. Paige is here to make me wear the outfit that she picked out… again. I'm not even nervous this time, and she's still a clothes Nazi._

_Bye!_

* * *

**Well, it's been quite a ride. We've had ups, downs, smooth sailing and bumps, but overall, I think this series is the piece of work I'm most proud of to date, and I'm so glad I could share it with such awesome readers like you guys. I want to give extra thanks to people like BlueFlamedFire, lizardmomma, RiverKirby, Shawn-n-Bell, charmedcrazy14, LtMsYsF and everyone else who's been with me, reading and reviewing regularly. (Especially when you thought I'd gone all _General Hospital _on you with the baby scare) Also, huge thanks to Sabrina S from Germany, who gave me literally hours of enjoyment from having to actually translate a review. I don't really know why that struck me, but it did. Lastly, thanks to the best beta/friend a girl could hope for, Fay - CharmedOneForever. All of you rock so hard, it's like a tiny concert in my head. I've got some vague plans for a third installment, but right now I want to concentrate on other works. I hope to see you guys around, thanks again!**

**Love, The Tourist**


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